brigiterrebeMay 8, 2024
Simon Willison

Here's a brilliant neologism: "slop", for text generated entirely by LLMs and published, unwanted, on the Internet

> Watching in real time as "slop" becomes a term of art. the way that "spam" became the term for unwanted emails, "slop" is going in the dictionary as the term for unwanted AI generated content

Source: https://twitter.com/deepfates/status/1787472784106639418

google bard (@deepfates) on X

Watching in real time as "slop" becomes a term of art. the way that "spam" became the term for unwanted emails, "slop" is going in the dictionary as the term for unwanted AI generated content

X (formerly Twitter)
May 8, 2024 at 12:16amWeb
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 8, 2024
Blogged a few more notes about slop, and why I like the term so much https://simonwillison.net/2024/May/8/slop/
Slop is the new name for unwanted AI-generated content

I saw this tweet yesterday from @deepfates, and I am very on board with this: Watching in real time as “slop” becomes a term of art. the way that “spam” …

Simon Willison’s Weblog
Show threadDaniel AndrlikMay 8, 2024
@simon I'm also fond of "slime" for it as well.
Show threadAllen PikeMay 8, 2024
@simon Love it when a new problem arises, then somebody finds just the right term for it. Now, we can easily talk about it, push back against it, etc.
Show threadArmchair EpistemologistMay 8, 2024

@simon I particularly like this bit:

"I’m a big proponent of LLMs as tools for personal productivity ...

But I’m increasingly of the opinion that sharing unreviewed content that has been artificially generated with other people is rude."

I (rcriii) am not a big proponent of AI, but recognize that some very smart people are, so the distinction between choosing to use AI (perfectly reasonable) versus having it shoved in my face (rude!) helps clarify my thinking.

Show thread~nMay 11, 2024
@rcriii @simon Recently witnessed a particularly sad example of trying to pass unreviewed content as the real thing, where a non-native speaker with poor aesthetic awareness almost sent a pdf to a client that was obviously LLM-generated, comically redundant, and of very poor structure. This will for sure become a real problem especially for lesser skilled people. If you don't know what the proper output should look like, and still use it as a short cut, things start to go awry pretty badly.
Show threadStephen TMay 8, 2024
@simon makes me think of school dinners back in the UK in the 80s. They too were generally unwanted!
Show threadsayrerMay 8, 2024
@simon It is an old term from the blog company days. They were churning out this kind of suff in like 2015 or so.
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 8, 2024

@sayrer Yeah? I've not heard it before

I think it still counts as a neologism here in terms of applying it to LLM output - "AI slop" if you like

Show threadsayrerMay 8, 2024
@simon yeah, I couldn't find the reference, but they used to make fun of each other for it.
Show threadAsh_CrowMay 8, 2024

@simon @sayrer the Wiktionary entry says "(Internet slang, derogatory) Content or media of little-to-no value, especially that which is produced consistently and according to trends to satisfy a recommendation algorithm or consumerist demands."

I feel like we could add ", or generated through a LLM" at the end.

Show threadalysMay 8, 2024
@sayrer @simon i've also heard "chum" for specifically the spammy "articles" promoted at the bottom of some news sites.
Show threadsayrerMay 8, 2024
@alys @simon yes, I've heard that one too, as in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumming
Chumming - Wikipedia

Show threaddelProfundoMay 8, 2024
@alys @sayrer @simon chum feels more like it to me. To lure in the opportunistic crawlers.
Show threadsayrerMay 8, 2024
@delProfundo @alys @simon as content, yes. but the thing was they would have some program write half of it, even the main one, not just the Taboola things at the bottom
Show threadLyle Solla-YatesMay 8, 2024
@simon can be a decent metric. First page is 50% slop, 75%, etc
Show threadArtemesiaMay 8, 2024

@simon

Henceforce I shall refer to the AI slop as "slop".

Show threadaburka 🫣May 8, 2024
@simon in the context of filtering, the opposite of spam is ham, so what is the opposite of slop?
Show threadLuka RubinjoniMay 8, 2024
@aburka @simon hop
Show threadDonnodubusMay 8, 2024

@simon May I suggest we stop saying "AI generated content," and start saying "prompt generated output"?

Because there is no intelligence behind it, which makes it quite the opposite of "content"...

Show threadAndrew ElderMay 8, 2024
@donnodubus @simon nope, content is just a polite term for 'filler' and can just as easily be created by a person or by software. Literature, journalism, art - only humans can do these
Show threadSimon ZerafaMay 8, 2024

@donnodubus @simon

PISS also works 🥴🤷‍♂️

Show threadAir AdamMay 8, 2024
@simonzerafa @donnodubus @simon 🤣 Nice! Did you come up with that one?
Show threadSimon ZerafaMay 8, 2024

@airadam @donnodubus @simon

Sadly No. But I am more that happy to plagerise it all over social media 😁👍

Show threadAlexander JanßenMay 12, 2024
@simonzerafa
Also "2nd PISS Winter is coming" just came to my mind and I can't stop giggling.
@donnodubus @simon
Show threadBrian MacDonaldMay 8, 2024
@simon Yeah, that a good one. I've been calling it "processed content product," but "slop" is so much shorter and more evocative.
Show threadBrian BoucheronMay 8, 2024
@bmac @simon “processed cheese words”? slop is quite nice though… i hope it lands.
Show threadToddZ ⓋMay 8, 2024
@simon “LLM slop” is descriptive, if not quite poetic. I’m partial to “glurge.”
Show threadEh?!?May 8, 2024

@toddz @simon

Speaking of poetry, "stop slop" makes a good rhyme.

Show threadToddZ ⓋMay 8, 2024

@Eh__tweet @simon

"Purge glurge" 😉

Show threadViolet MadderMay 8, 2024

@simon

I prefer "botshit".

Show threadVivek GaniMay 8, 2024

@simon was 'kipple' not carrying enough of a junk connotation?

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/kipple

kipple - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Wiktionary
Show threadGödel Escher Spock🦿May 8, 2024

@simon

Weirdly not in my Google search.

Show threadskryMay 8, 2024
@adamhill @simon
Maybe it's Chrome on iPhone? Or aimed at people who don't own AirPods? I don't see it either on iPhone Firefox.
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 8, 2024
@skry @adamhill it's a staged rollout, I've had it for a few weeks but only while logged in
Show threadRandom Geek in limboMay 8, 2024
@simon @troublewithwords like “spam,” “slop” has that p-sound so you can really spit the word out when you’re mad.
Show threadAdlangxMay 8, 2024
@simon trash fire.
Show thread⛈️ Information ⛈️May 8, 2024
@simon I wish Fates would make the jump to Mastodon.
Show threadSevorisMay 8, 2024

@simon I‘ve had "silicon slop" as a term in my notes for a while.

I also offer "bulkshit".

Show thread🇳𝗮ꜟ𝖼𝘩May 8, 2024
@simon
Slop also applies quite nicely to pictures like this one, which someone had the gall to place on the front of a free local magazine.
Show threadDJ Fragile ToolchainsMay 8, 2024
@simon the alignment with spam is what really makes it. 👌
Show threadNiniMay 8, 2024
@simon Slop is not a new term but this definition certainly is!
Show threadeobetMay 8, 2024
@simon I like to call it ”virtual pollution” 🧟‍♂️
Show threadDriftiniMay 8, 2024
@simon I just use slop to refer to most kinds of high amounts of low quality content on the internet, AI generated or not
Show threadEcho 🦊May 8, 2024
@simon east solution, don’t use fucking Google.
Show threadcuan_knaggsMay 8, 2024
@simon term of art alert for @emilymbender
Show threadDaniel AppelquistMay 8, 2024
@simon I prefer "goop", but I'll accept "slop."
Show threadBaldrick (Taylor's Version)May 8, 2024

@simon and much like "spam":

- works well untranslated as a fresh new word in other languages
- even if you never heard it before, sounds exactly like what is is: something mushy and unwanted

Show threadLuka RubinjoniMay 8, 2024
@simon Slop Overflow™
Show threadDraken BlackKnightMay 8, 2024
@simon
https://infosec.exchange/@L2actual/112396363106521963
Liam Lynch :donor: (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Rebranding indeed ... @paul_ipv6 @briankrebs

Infosec Exchange
Show threadmathewMay 8, 2024
@drakenblackknight @simon
http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/new-paradigms
then
http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/newer-paradigms
Three Panel Soul - New Paradigms

Show threadGary McGrawMay 8, 2024
@simon this is recursive pollution
Show threadsamiamsamMay 8, 2024

@simon amazon is doing the same thing with their useless review system

an AI compilation of all the bought and bogus reviews are at the top

it is BS about BS

Show threadFisaMay 8, 2024
@simon looks like half of LinkedIn has become the Slop.
Slopped?
Show threadKevin MarksMay 8, 2024
@simon I think this needs a backronym:
Synthetic Language Online Pollution or
Stochastic Lexical Ordure Product
Show threadJoe CrawfordMay 8, 2024
@KevinMarks @simon Shabby "Literature" Organized Poorly
Show threadRora BorealisMay 8, 2024

@simon "Slop" was the food waste my grandpa gave the pigs.

Works for me.

Show threadMarie VC, PhDMay 8, 2024
@simon As a French speaker, I must add that 'slop' in French means 'briefs' (colloquial, childish): https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/slop
slop — Wiktionnaire, le dictionnaire libre

Wiktionnaire
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 8, 2024
@MarieVC Hah, even better!